31 Aug 2018
VisitScotland's Paul Bush: co-hosting model for European Championships a 'disruptor on the market'
BY Tom Walker
Paul Bush, VisitScotland's director of events, says the successful delivery of the recent Glasgow 2018 European Championships shows how the country's adopted delivery model is "causing disruption" in the major sports event market.
"For all involved, the European Championships has surpassed expectations and has shown what can be achieved when you are brave, ambitious and innovative", Bush said.
"As a new event, there was no manual for how the Championships should be delivered, giving us the opportunity to be bold and find different ways of working.
"While there were undoubtedly some challenges as we navigated our way down this new path, overall the sector really responded by creating a new delivery model that is causing real disruption within the market.
"I believe what has been delivered by co-hosts Glasgow and Berlin, in partnership with the European sports federations and the European Broadcast Union, is a model that is the way forward for sport events in the future."
With a potential total audience of more than 1.03 billion viewers across the continent, and an even wider audience via multiple digital platforms, the event was shown by more than 40 free-to-air broadcasters across 3,000 hours.
Early international TV viewing figures across terrestrial channels were strong across Europe. In Germany and France, more than 3 million viewers tuned in on a single day (Sunday 5th August) to watch the action.
"The quality of sport on offer also showed the calibre of the event," Bush added.
"This shows that bringing existing individual events together, under one umbrella, and creating a mutually beneficial multi-sport event that is shown across multiple media platforms, you can achieve greater reach and impact than when done on their own.
"Co-hosting the event with Berlin was also something very special and new. Co-hosting of events has rarely been done but again I think it is something we will see more and more of going forward.
"It is a great opportunity for cities and countries to come together and bid for events that otherwise might not have been possible on their own."
Held from 2 to 12 August, the 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships.
As well as Berlin and Glasgow, some of the multi-sport events took place in Edinburgh.
Around 1,500 athletes competed across the 14 championships, which covered major sports such as athletics, swimming, cycling and gymnastics, as well as rowing and golf.
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